NATO Secretary-General Warns Trump of New Threats If Ukraine Gets Bad Deal

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte answers journalists questions in Budapest, Hungary, on Nov. 7, 2024. Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images

The head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) warned President-elect Donald Trump that the United States would face new threats if Ukraine is forced to make concessions to Russia in the ongoing war.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the Financial Times in an interview published on Dec. 2 that the United States would face a “dire threat” from China, North Korea, and Iran if the Trump administration pushes for a deal that Rutte believes wouldn’t be beneficial for Ukraine.

“We cannot have a situation where we have Kim Jong Un and the Russian leader and Xi Jinping and Iran high-fiving because we came to a deal which is not good for Ukraine,” he told the publication. “Long-term that will be a dire security threat not only to Europe but also to the U.S.”

Rutte said the deep military and economic ties among the four countries are concerning.

“The fact that Iran, North Korea, China, and Russia are working so closely together [suggests that] these various parts of the world where conflict is ... are more and more getting connected,” he told the publication.

“Iran is getting money from Russia in return for, for example, missiles, but also drone technology. And the money is being used to prop up Hizbollah and Hamas, but also steering conflict beyond the region.”

He added that the Chinese communist regime may “get thoughts about something else in the future if there is not a good deal” for Ukraine.

Rutte was named as the secretary-general of NATO in October, replacing former leader Jens Stoltenberg. Previously, he served as prime minister of the Netherlands from 2010 to 2024.

During the 2024 campaign, Trump said he wanted to quickly end the war in Ukraine, sometimes saying he would end the conflict in 24 hours after he takes office. While the president-elect has issued few statements on the war since he was elected, he nominated retired Gen. Keith Kellogg as his special envoy to Russia and Ukraine.

Kellogg, Trump’s 80-year-old former national security adviser, has written articles on the conflict, including one in April for the America First Policy Institute, which detailed a potential peace plan.

“Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine was an avoidable crisis that ... has entangled America in an endless war,” Kellogg wrote, adding that the war stemmed from the United States’ “failure in diplomacy with Russia.”

“Based on these principles, we believe the tragic failures of the Ukraine War exemplify why the America First approach to U.S. national security better addresses the challenges this type of conflict poses to U.S. national interests and how it could have been prevented,” Kellogg wrote. “Most importantly, the America First approach to national security provides guidelines on how this war can be brought to an end.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, facing manpower shortages and growing territorial losses, has indicated in recent media interviews that he may be open to negotiations. He also has said that he still wants Ukraine to join NATO.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “not possible to comment on individual statements without having an idea of the plan as a whole” in response to Trump’s comments on the conflict.

Trump spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has said that Trump “will do what is necessary to restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage.”

The Epoch Times contacted Trump’s transition team for comment in response to Rutte’s interview with the Financial Times but did not get a response by publication time. Trump met with Rutte at his Mar-a-Lago residence in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Nov. 22.

Reuters contributed to this report.